The present embodiments relate to medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging. In particular, views of desired planes are automatically classified.
Spectral Doppler echocardiography is widely used to assess cardiovascular function and pathology, such as valvular regurgitation and stenosis. The velocity of blood or moving structures is determined from the Doppler effect of ultrasound waves. To acquire a Doppler echocardiogram, a sonographer places a Doppler or range gate on the screen at the location where the blood velocity is to be measured. However, placement may be inconsistent between sonographers or for a same sonographer at different times. This variation may result in gathering less diagnostically useful information.
The velocity may be measured at different locations or a same location for different views. For example, standard echocardiography views include apical two, three, four and five chamber views. Each view includes the left ventricle, but different views shows different valves. A gate may be located by the mitral valve (MV), the tricuspid valve (TV), or the aortic valve (AV) depending on the type of view. It may be difficult for a sonographer to properly identify the view and the location or locations for spectral Doppler analysis. It may be time consuming to position the range gate.